FAR MORE THAN JUST CONCERTS!!! Brought to you by the North Madison Congregational Church.
Scroll on down for the concert listings; there's a lot going on!
FOR FIDDLE CLUB INFO, CLICK HERE Get on the mailing list: Email here. Want to reserve seats without calling? click here. Links not working for you? Call 203-421-3241 (church office)
If you ever have a chance to see any of them, anywhere, don't miss the opportunity! For general questions about the series, or for questions from artists and their agents, click here.
Well, that was simply the best season ever, thanks to all of you, the audience, and some of the best artists we've ever had.
NOW, HOWEVER, IT'S TIME FOR... THE FALL SCHEDULE AND SOME
SCARY GOOD MUSIC
Hanneke used the phrase "pure dead brilliant fiddle" We're going to paraphrase that and say "PURE DEAD BRILLIANT TALENT."
September 19 (it's a Sunday evening) 6:30 PM Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas How much more can you say? Two of the most talented musicians of this or any generation, basically laying out the history of dance music from the baroque period on. Remember when Beethoven ruined classical music by making it all about size and pomp and stuff? That marked the split from the Baroque dance stuff, like Mozart duos, trios and quartets, and Bach's music, from mainstream classical. The smaller stuff went more towards the country dance area, like the English ans Scottish fiddle tunes, which over time warped into newer Scots and Cape Breton fiddling. It's all here, from the 17th century on. A must-see for anyone who is a serious student of music, violin or cello, or who just wants to hear some of the best stuff ever performed. Typical things: Adults $20, kids high school and under, $5.00, and ice cream INFO
GET READY FOR THE BIG ZYDECO DANCE PARTY!!!!! SATURDAY OCTOBER 9, 7:00 PM (he gets two pictures)
JEFFREY BROUSSARD AND THE CREOLE COWBOYS THIS IS SIMPLY GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT. JEFFREY'S A NATIONAL LIVING TREASURE, PERIOD. THIS MAY KILL ME OFF, BUT WE'RE GOING FOR IT. JAMBALAYA GUMBO MUSIC DANCING ICE CREAM ALL BY THE GREATEST LIVING PRACTITIONER OF CREOLE/ZYDECO PARTY MUSIC ONCE I FIGURE OUT THE DINNER THING(WITH A LOT OF HELP!) I'LL GET MORE DETAILS UP HERE. UNTIL THEN, ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IS THAT IT WILL BE LIKE NOTHING WE'VE EVER DONE, OR YOU'VE EVER SEEN. ADULTS, $25, KIDS $5, YOU KNOW THE DRILL I THINK WE'LL RUN OUT OF ROOM FAST ON THIS, SO RESERVE EARLY!!! INFO
NOVEMBER Will this be the first ever Berklee/Juillard SMACKDOWN? We'll find out if it can happen! Stay tuned to watch this potential nightmare unfold! (ok, this is unfolding a little slower than I'd hoped, but what the heck, it'll still be fun)
JANUARY 8, 7:00 PM
VISHTEN
Straight from the enchanted land itself, Prince Edward Island, comes one of my all-time favorites, Vishten. January's a way off, but I'll drop this on you. Did you like the Grada show? April Verch? Vishten's all that. Maybe more. I've been trying for several years, and now we win. YOU win. Nothing like them, pure and simple. Now I'll give you another recommendation, that of Grada themselves, and Gerry Paul, the guitarist, especially. When I was talking with Gerry and I was talking about trying to get Vishten, he simply said, "You have to. They're the best we've ever heard." same as always, adults $20, kids high school and under, $5, ice cream. INFO
SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 7:OO PM
NORA JANE STRUTHERS NORA JANE AND HER BAND blow in for a night of post-tax return bliss. I know what you're all thinking... "who?" After getting numerous calls from some our friendly former artists, and listening to her cd, I'm thinking this should be one of my favorite nights. Hey, they just won Telluride's "best band" contest, and the last artists who were here who also won that were Bearfoot. That seemed to work out just fine, too. To our hard-core regulars who faithfully come to everything we do, you'll be well rewarded. To the pick-and-choose members of our audience, pick and choose this. To all others, just show up. You'll be glad you did. adults $20, kids high school and under, $5.00 ice cream ice cream ice cream...
LAST NIGHT'S FUN WITH HANNEKE, ARI, MIA AND CHRIS (AND ALL THE DANCERS)
LINKS TO MUSIC WE LIKE, AND MAY WELL HAVE AT THE CHURCH IF THE SCHEDULING WORKS OUT
Need More Music? THERE'S GREAT AND AMAZING STUFF OUT THERE, ALL LOCAL!!
Our friends over at Guitartownct Tony Rice up next with Chris in New Haven at the great Little Theatre
Our Friend Bob Congdon at Connecticut Folk has nice monthly shows, and a really great festival
What can you say about Strawberry Park Campground? They host a few really great small festivals, very friendly. Bluegrass, Cajun, each one a blast with great talent.
And of course, a local festival rapidly becoming one of the East Coast's best, Podunk Bluegrass Festival
you can always check out ibluegrass.com for great listings also
Notes on The Series
"Fire in the kitchen" is an old saying for traditional music house parties from Scotland and Ireland, over to Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island, down through the Appalachians, and all the way to Louisiana. It's foot stompin' roots music full of fiddles, guitars, accordions and all manner of homemade instruments. No matter where it comes from, you can't sit still when you hear it.
The main mission of our series is to bring you some of the finest roots musicians in the world, with special emphasis on Celtic-inspired music from Ireland, Scotland, and North America. A related mission is to showcase young or unheralded talent, as it helps them to be seen, and allows us to experience the growth of some fantastic performers. Bands that have played here have also played some pretty impressive places, like the Sydney Opera House.
As a bonus, we try to arrange for workshops for local amateur musicians, led by the performers themselves. We're very proud of the fact that artists who play here consider it one of their favorite venues world-wide, and are always asking to come back and play again. The acoustics, the ambiance, and the audience are all first-rate!
